So I've not blogged in a while - generally because I don't do that many interesting things and I spend a lot of my time working/sleeping/reading things on the internet - but last month I did go somewhere interesting, the Britannia Panopticon!

The Britannia Panopticon is possibly the world's oldest surviving music hall. You can find it nestled away in Glasgow, right above Mrs Mitchells Sweet Shop, just by the Trongate 103 Gallery and a short walk from the 13th Note venue. I went there for a special Halloween showing of Phantom of the Opera from 1925, starring Lon Chaney. The film came with an amazing live musical accompaniment with music selected from the era and even some live opera singing! Music was played by Gladstone's Bag.This is a trailer someone made up using various clips. I believe you can watch the entire movie online too.

The Panopticon has been reported as haunted by various visitors but sadly I didn't encounter any supernatural beings on the night! I am an open minded skeptic, I don't actually believe in any of it (so far) but love the stories people tell and find the idea of the supernatural very interesting. Watching the film in the old music hall was a fantastically creepy experience though. The staff were also great and dressed up in Victorian gear! It was a fantastic experience and I will visit again.

The husband and I did make it out to a Halloween party. I had originally intended to go in a steampunk/Victorian ghost outfit (which I did make with my new sewing machine!) but decided the party was probably going to be a bit wild and would require a more comfortable easy to wear costume without a corset and bustle.So I opted for a quick fix wind up doll costume. While my partner went for Tony Stark. My costume was just some clothes I already had with some creative make-up. The key (for winding up) I made out of cut up cardboard which I covered in tin foil then just stapled on my skirt. Mr Stark just used his regular clothes, a belt across his chest with a small battery light duck taped on then various leads and wires wound round his arm attached to one of my old gloves. He already had the beard and rugged good looks, obviously. On the left is a photo of the Victorian costume (minus bolero jacket I also made) which I have edited with Picasa to look all old-timey. Maybe I'll have occasion to use it some other time...

And... Honeymoon news! We have booked our flights, we are off to Italy in May 2013 - providing the world doesn't end this year. A little Verona & Venice. We are planning to rent apartments as it actually works out cheaper than hotels in most cases and we're more of come and go as you please kind of couple not a luxury service kind of couple. We do hope to spend our last night in a posh hotel though since it is our honeymoon! I will post details about the sites we used and how the booking process works in future posts. It also means we will have the opportunity to visit some local Italian markets and do some cooking!

Last night I made some of these - No Bake Lemon & Coconut balls (my husband giggles like a toddler every time I say 'balls' so I've been talking about making these for a while just for a laugh) They are pretty delicious though they were a little bit labour intensive as I didn't have anything to break up the biscuits with so had to crumble an entire pack by hand. As I live in the UK I used Rich Tea biscuits instead of Marie Biscuits, had to substitute a few things - used powered almonds instead of chia seeds (you can use flax seed but I couldn't find any) and evapourated milk instead of condensed milk. This meant it was not as sticky so I just put the majority of the coconut straight into the mixture. I guess it means it has less sugar in it too!

Today I'm going to have a go at making this delicious guacamole. I went to Wahaca in London a couple of years ago it was freaking fantastic. I recommend a visit if you are in town, the prices are pretty reasonable as it's kind of a tapas style menu so if you are in a group you can make it work quite well.

Last weekend I went to Red Onion which is very tasty and had my first ever visit to the Mecca bingo. I don't do much gambling so it's not something I could see myself doing often but it was good fun, the people were really nice and I can see how people get addicted to it. During the week I managed to catch up with a friend after a long time and enjoyed a gingerbread latte at Beanscene - seasonal flavour win!